Workarounds

 Sunday's humidity was so thick not only could you see it, you could sit on it.

Visit #1611, Saturday 1 August 26, 6:10-7:00 a.m., mileage and litter n/a.

Temps in the low 70s, cloudy and extremely humid.

Visit #1612, Sunday 2 August 26, 6:00-8:15 a.m., 4.8 miles, 2.6 lbs. of litter.

Weather same as Saturday.

Correction:  A couple weeks ago I commented on the spread of wild raspberries on the trails. Well, blog reader Mike reached through the phone to give me a dope slap and correct me. Those are NOT wild raspberries; they are wineberries. Thanks, Mike; my cheeks are healing just fine.

Last week I found a lot of new graffiti on road signs and elsewhere around Merimere Reservoir. I couldn't remove it all then, so I rode my mountain bike into the park early Saturday morning to address it. By going early I avoided the worst of the humidity, and the attention of people.

I started cleaning this sign last week but my chemical remover was also taking off the black.

Rather than make things worse, I merely sprayed black paint over everything.

I won't bore you with After photos, but here are all the tags I removed.

All those tags were done by the same person/group.

Other reasons why I rode my mountain bike to the park to do this work were, by lashing it to the street sign I could stand on my bike like a stepladder to easily reach the sign, and it was much quicker than on foot.

All that graffiti removal took its toll on my rag and I had to trash it.

An interesting sight on this early Saturday morning: It was 6:25 a.m. and I found this e-bike locked to the guardrail by a trailhead. I was immediately suspicious.

Some time after I finished removing all the graffiti and was heading back to the park, the e-bike rider passed me.

When I returned to Hubbard Park on Sunday morning, I was curious to see whether the e-bike would be at the same location, at a similar time. Guess what...

...different e-bike, similar time and locked at the same location. The e-bike was also gone when I passed by the site later in my hike, at roughly the same time I saw him Saturday.

With my interest piqued, rather than follow my original plan, I decided to hike one of the two trails which branch off in the background of the photo, expecting to find SOMETHING.

I came up empty in my quest, but I still suspect something's up. I'm going to keep an eye on this.

Also of note on Saturday, someone (not me!) has taken to placing natural debris adjacent to the speed bumps, presumably to thwart drivers who drive around them. I thought it was funny!

On Sunday I returned to the park through the north end because the Puerto Rican Festival in Hubbard Park limited parking.

I found and removed more of Hubbard Park's Tchotchke Vandal's junk.

And it's a good thing I followed his trail. It lead me to another trail and...

... and newly fallen tree. Here you see it after I did some trimming to make it easier to pass by. 

And it wasn't the only fallen tree I found on the trails Sunday.

All of which means an upcoming Power Tool Weekend®.

I also found Cat Graffiti #39 since November 2016.

Cat Graffiti #x will hereafter be known as Cat Patootie #x after it was given that name by blog reader Susan. Incidentally, the word patootie does not appear in my Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary but does appear in the Oxford English Dictionary. I was ripped off.

And finally, a piece of Hubbard Park history.

While chatting with an older Hubbard Park regular on Saturday he pointed out this following tidbit:

Old guardrails in Hubbard Park were of the wood and cable variety; many still stand.

In one particular section it's not wood but steel. Why the change?

Well, prior to 1970 or so, the road around Merimere Reservoir was open to traffic 24/7. At this particular spot, around 1968 two individuals in a car failed to negotiate the road, flipped their car, ended up in the reservoir, and died. To make the guardrail more resistant to this kind of result, the guardrail at this spot was replaced with the metal pipes you see. The person who told me this story said it was true because he (about 8 years old at the time) and his father drove by the location the day after the accident to rubberneck at the aftermath.

Down to the basement I go, to prep my chainsaw for next week.

Playscapes

 

They're not all the same.

Visit #1610, Sunday 26 July 26, 6:15-9:35 a.m., 5.3 miles, 4.3 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 70s, sunny and dry.

In a previous post I commented and posted a photo about playscapes of yore versus today, where the children are protected from injury and the cities from lawsuits.

In a recent edition of The Economist magazne, I read Scandinavia has a different take on playscapes. It's a funny and interesting read, reprinted below. If you're computer savvy you can enlarge the article to make it easier to read.

Hubbard Park is MY playscape; sharp tools, tick bites, snakes, paint mess, and other potential harm aligns me closer to Scandinavia than America. In fact, I sorta look like the kid in the article above, after my hikes.

Last week I noticed some duplicate graffiti on the I-691 walkbridge. I was not able to remove all of it then so this week I came equipped to do so.

Enroute to the walkbridge I found this tag from national parks literature, and it was apparently addressed to me.

Ironically, the backside of the tag suggests volunteering at a park, which is somewhat contradictory to leaving things like this lying trailside. I do appreciate being recognized for my work, however.

At the walkbridge I found Cat Graffiti #38 since November 2016.

Before getting down to painting, I removed it.

As to the graffiti painting; I was not paying attention. Last week I pointed out the wax pencil tag was a duplicate of a spray painted tag at the far end of the walkbridge. What I noticed this week was the same tag was at the bollard end of the bridge as well. Compare them and see if you agree. I set up and went to work on both.

Incidentally, I weighed my backpack today after a conversation with a hiker got me curious. Today's load was a whopping 30.3 lbs.!

I was heading up to West Peak today. Nearing the top I encountered a wood frog who was patient enough to pose for me.

I hiked down a trail that led to the apparent logging project that's going on so I could confirm my suspicions.

I did find more tags and trees marked.

At the bottom I found a bag of trash.

I'm sure this trash belongs to the logger not because of all the Dunkin' cups and empty energy drink containers but because of the empty container of hydraulic fluid.

Since I found all this some distance from their equipment, I relocated everything closer so they would not forget to remove it.

Exiting the trail, I found new graffiti on the street sign. I've removed graffiti from this sign before.

The wax pencil proved tougher than my on-hand remedies and in the process I was removing the black paint. I found this tag in several other locations today. I plan to return next week to my playscape ready to play hardball.

Back In The Saddle

 

Visit #1609, Sunday 19 July 26, 6:05-9:15 a.m, 4.9 miles, 17.0 lbs. of litter. 

Temps in the low 70s, sunny, dry, and breezy, after late Saturday and overnight rain.

Thanks to those astute readers of my blog who noticed something might be wrong with my health and tracked me down while I had a brief stay at MidState Medical Center and spa.

Those who called seemed to be more worried that I pay off my loans to them before I died, but their phone calls were still appreciated. 😏

If you must know, I had an outbreak of Good Looks and Charm. I know when it happens because all sorts of strangers and paparazzi will start following me, and love letters from all types will appear in my mailbox. The only solution is to hide away in the hospital where only those concerned with getting their money back will make the effort to track me down.

I'm on the mend now, and medication is returning me to my normal boring and ugly self except for the time being I am moving a bit slower. This week I wanted to test my recovery on the same route I abandoned last week.

Our Birch Tree Bandit continues to adorn said tree with stickers and tchotchkes. I even remove the nails and they keep reappearing.

Further up the trail, this storm damage happened this week because the trail was clear last week. It was easily removed.

The Birch Tree Bandit is responsible for this sticker as well. I put it in my pocket for later review but somehow lost it.

I wanted to save it because it's difficult to read what else he has written on it. It calls me "Sticker Peeler" multiple times and tells me to "grease this pole too", assuming I've treated other promising sticker spots with something to deter sticker pasting.

Why would I do that and where would I come up with such an idea?! 😉

Now on the walkbridge I spotted and removed some new graffiti.

It was easily removed.

But pay attention; compare the above with what I found on the opposite end of the I-691 walkbridge and you'll notice they are from the same person. That is, if you're Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) and in the habit of deciphering alien language.

I'll work on the latter next week.

At the Beehive Fountain I found a purse, but it was empty.

The next trail I went up featured a stand of wild raspberries. Unfortunately, they were overtaking the trail so I had to trim them back, just as they were ripening. Sorry.

Stickers seemed to be the theme of the day because as I reached the road to East/West Peak I found several more on this post. They all referred to voting, mail-in voting, and mail carriers.

I must not have greased this pole as they were difficult to remove UNTIL I applied my magic potion and some elbow ahem, grease.

Walking down the road I found this hoodie.

Such an uplifting message! Yeah; that's what I wanna wear to meet my girlfriend's parents...

Further down the road I found a slew of beer cans and bottles, all Corona or Modelo.

But as you can see I found three that were unopened. I'm not a beer drinker but if I were, and when I smelled the contents as emptied the bottles, I would definitely rethink my taste for beer. Now I know where the term "warm piss" comes from because that's what it smelled like. And what kind of person throws out perfectly good bottles of beer except someone too drunk to know what they're doing!

In a past blog entry I pondered whether some blue ribbons I found on trees were possible indications of a soon to be logging project. It appears I'm right.

Questions remain - is this a parks department project or a water department project? Is this on Hubbard Park land or watershed land? I ask because in 2000 or 2001 I participated with a group of people in getting a logging project in Hubbard Park stopped because it impacted those who hike and recreate in Hubbard Park. I'm trying to get answers.

Another reason I wanted to hike down the road this week was to see if my unfinished tree removal on the road was completed by other parties. I'm pleased to say it was.

I hope to get uglier and more boring as my meds take effect, and able to hike longer, at a quicker pace.

Until then, maintain.